


Amare Memoriae

by Mysterious_Prophetess



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Game, So much angst, funeral fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-03 21:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12756312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterious_Prophetess/pseuds/Mysterious_Prophetess
Summary: Amare MemoriaeIn Loving MemoryLight has returned, at a cost.





	Amare Memoriae

_M.E. 766 Unknown days A.D.R._

Talcott looked at his work and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. Iris and Cindy silently stood next to him as they too stepped back.

“I’d say it’s an exact copy,” Cindy said. Talcott nodded mutely. It wasn’t a precise replica because….

“You finished it.” Gladio walked in and looked down at their handiwork. The silence that followed was almost….painful compared to the hours of noisy tools and machinery going.

“Ignis is almost done with his part.” Prompto had arrived.

“We’ll get this to where it needs to be, don’t you worry about that,” Cindy said. Talcott just stared away.

“I’ll go call Ignis and let him know.” Prompto’s steps might have been a bit rushed but no one cared.

“Let’s get our cargo loaded up and ready to roll,” Iris said after a moment. Talcott again nodded. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the floral Altissian cactuar statuette. He clenched his fist around it and shoved it back into his pocket. He had work to do.

————————————————————————————————————

Cor was already standing vigil whenever Talcott arrived in the ruined Citadel courtyard as the sunlight began to fade. By the time everyone gathered, the stars were out on this moonless night. A soft light illuminated the podium in front of the Citadel steps. Resting on the top was a cobbled together royal tomb. Talcott had designed the statue portion while Cindy, with assistance from Iris, had pieced together the actual tomb from salvaged pieces of the Regalia. The lid was off sitting on a deceptively strong table. Within the tomb lay King Noctis. Ignis had done his best to disguise the wound, despite being blind. It looked as if Noctis were merely napping.

“We are gathered here tonight to lay to rest a man who restored the dawn to the world, at the cost of his own life. Everything he ever did, everything he sacrificed was always for the good of Lucis, yet he was a man just like any of us. I was proud to call him my brother in life. I’ve never known a finer man, and Lucis —and the world—will feel this loss for years to come.” Igniscalmly walked away. Gladio was silent. Prompto was up next. He…wasbarely holding it together.

“I wasn’t raised with him, like these two, but he was my brother all the same. He…gave me a path and now I don’t know if I’ll ever find a new one. He was the best friend a guy could have. Truly the best.” Cor took Prompto’s place.

“I knew Noctis since he was a small child.I am proud to say I knew Noctis well. If he had been able, he would have been as great a King as his father and his forbears before him. It is said that those who the Six love, die young and he was very beloved of the Six.” Cindy was comforting Prompto while Cid took the podium.

“I remember the first time I saw Reggie’s son. I said that he looked like Reggie, only with the dignity clean kicked out of him!” this drew a few scattered laughs, “Despite the rough edges and his city softness, that boy of Reggie’s was all heart. Sometimes he let the heart do too much of his thinkin' but he never let anything that happened harden him. I’m going to miss that slack-jawed slacker.” Talcott hadn’t realized he’d taken the podium until he looked out over the assembled people. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a slightly crinkled piece of paper.

“The others, they knew him better than I did. He never cared about what status or class you were, and he was always so patient with me, even when he had things he had to do. I remember finding this whenever I was helping Ignis with research and I copied it down because I liked it so much:

_Do not stand at my grave and weep._

_I am not there. I do not sleep._

_I am a thousand winds that blow,_

_I am the diamond glints on the snow._

_I am the sunlight on ripened grain,_

_I am the gentle autumn rain._

_I am in the morning hush,_

_I am in the graceful rush,_

_Of quiet birds in circled flight._

_I am the starshine of the night._

_I am in the flowers that bloom,_

_I am in the quiet of an empty room._

_I am in the birds that sing,_

_I am in each lovely thing._

_Do not stand at my grave and cry._

_I am not there. I did not die_.”

————————————————————————————————

Later, people were lining up to leave tokens in the tomb. Mostly it was syllablossoms. Talcott was seven from the end of the line. By the time he reached the open tomb, Noctis’s body had been almost completely covered up to his chin. Talcott with a shaky hand set the Altissian Cactuar Statuette next to his folded hands.

“Thanks for being my friend, Your Majesty. You always came through in the end.” Talcott said before he walked away. He looked back to see Cor setting a small training sword in the tomb, Iris placing a bouquet of pink lilies, Gladio setting in Noctis’s fishing rod, Prompto setting a photo inside, and Ignis pulling out a letter he tucked inside before Gladio and Cor hauled the tomb shut. On top the Engine Blade was mounted into the statue. Though, this time the face had been made to resemble Noctis on purpose by Talcott. It was carried by Cor, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis down the stairs as the remaining Glaives and the Hunters lead by Dave followed them into the bowels of the Citadel.

The room had once been an escape passage but time and damage had made it into a manmade cave. It was here they laid Noctis to rest next to his ancestors and his father, whose casket had been made by Cid, also from salvaged parts of the Regalia, though his had the standard design with his glaive on top. Next to that was simple white and gold tomb for Lady Lunafreya and a memorial stone for Ravus Nox Flueret.

“Sleep well.” Cor placed a hand on the tomb before the procession left. Talcott could have sworn he saw something and heard a whisper,

_Thank you._

**Author's Note:**

> The poem "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" was allegedly written by Mary Elizabeth Frye. Authorship has mostly been conferred to her due to research pointing to her writing the earliest version in 1932. 
> 
> I channeled the lost of a beloved pet to write this. His name was Phantom. He was a black cat with no markings on him. Pure black from nose to tail. He was a jerk, but he was my jerk.


End file.
